Delhi may see first artificial rain to tackle pollution on October 29: CM Rekha Gupta

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Thursday that the national capital may experience its first artificial rain through cloud seeding on October 29 if the conditions remain favourable.

Cloud seeding is the process of combining chemical agents, including silver iodide, dry ice and even common table salt, to condense clouds and increase the chance of rainfall.

As the air quality in Delhi continues to be “poor”, Gupta told reporters on Friday that cloud seeding “is a necessity for Delhi”.

“We want to try it in Delhi to see if it can help us control this very serious environmental problem,” she said while speaking about the air pollution in the national capital.

A day ago, she said that experts had conducted a test run for the experiment in the Burari area.

“The weather department has indicated the possibility of cloud presence on October 28, 29 and 30,” the Delhi chief minister said on social media. “If conditions remain favourable, Delhi will experience its first artificial rain on October 29.”

She added that cloud seeding will “establish a scientific method to combat pollution in Delhi”.

The cloud seeding project in the national capital has been jointly developed by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and the Delhi government.

Experts have repeatedly pointed out that the experiment is not “very practical” to tackle air pollution...

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